WASHINGTON — Everyone’s in favor of workforce development — how can one not be? The plumbing industry needs to fill 180,000 jobs, the HVAC industry a similar number, and the construction industry as a whole has 800,000 unfilled jobs, said Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors — National Association Executive Vice President Michael Copp. Yet despite workforce development and career and technical education (otherwise known as CTE) being a motherhood-and-apple-pie issue, getting the resources needed to turn prospective employees into plumbers and service technicians is difficult.
The industry’s leading contractors — the ones who consistently volunteer and show up to serve the industry — came here in mid-June to …